<Do you now wish to comply with the screening procedure?> The voice asked, patient and persistent in equal measure.

<It does not sound like you are leaving me much choice.> Alarion answered. He didn't understand a number of the words that the voice had used, but asphyxiation was in his lexicon, which was all the context he felt he needed.

<I am sorry. I do not understand.> It said in its usual clipped tone. There was a heartbeat's pause before it resumed, its question repeated verbatim, in an identical tone and cadence. <Do you now wish to comply with the screening procedure?>

<I guess?>

<I am sorry, your answer must be Yes or No.> Again, there was that minute gap. <Please understand, the voice you are speaking with is not a person. It is not workload emulation. It is not driven by LLM software. Due to cascading system failures, this backup was activated to save on processing requirements. This program's user-facing portion consists of voice recognition software and a sizable body of pre-programmed questions, statements, and responses collected from previous users.>

Alarion tilted his head, trying to understand what he'd heard. Again, several key words meant nothing to him, but the voice left him just enough to parse his way through. <So you can only respond if you guessed what I might say?>

<That is largely correct. Your wording does not need to be exact; this system is capable of parsing synonyms and adjusting, to an extent, for your linguistic drift. But this system is incapable of responding to novel statements or questions.> It waited long enough to see if Alarion would press it with further questions, then asked. <Do you now wish to comply with the screening procedure?>

<Yes.>

<Thank you. Please state your last name for our records.>

<I do not have one.> Alarion replied with a hint of worry.

There was a pause, the sound of something heavy moving just beyond the wall. Alarion flinched as the silence lingered for several seconds, before the voice said, <No, you do not. Your name is Alarion, is that correct?>

<Yes.>

<Thank you. Alarion, in what nation were you born?>

<Imuria.>

<I am sorry. I did not understand that. Alarion, in what nation were you born?> It pressed.

<I was born in the Kingdom of Imuria.>

There was another long pause as the voice digested his information and formulated its next question. Then the lights in the room flashed, and a small projection was displayed on the wall Alarion was facing, its dark lines scrawled across white metal. Six months ago, Alarion would not have recognized what he was looking at, but thanks to his crash education, he at least understood the general shape of the world.

Three major landmasses dominated the map of Ilun. On the far left was Alarion's home continent, a lanky L-shaped thing with a large freshwater sea at the connecting joint. The Ashadi called it Celes, while the Vitrians called it Nostrum. In the middle lay the second continent, Gartite, not as long or as tall as Nostrum, but more densely packed. To the far east lay Nusume, ZEKE's homeland, a land almost as large as the first two put together, its mass cut up by a massive northern bay and a southern inlet that ran half the continent's length.

Other, smaller bodies dotted the map. Chains of islands and the smaller southern continent off the easternmost tip of Nostrum that Alarion could never remember. But there was only one other landmass of note. In the north, between Gartite and Nusume. The dark continent. The lost lands.

<Could you please pinpoint, to the best of your ability, the location of Imuria on this map?>

Alarion did not hesitate. Shockingly, Vitrian education had focused almost entirely on the empire. Given that Imuria was now part of the empire, Alarion's teachers had graciously pointed out his homeland, which allowed the young man to easily trace the borders on the projection with his finger.

To his surprise, the map zoomed in to accommodate him, filling most of the wall as the voice persisted. <Thank you, Alarion. In what city, town, or other municipality were you born?>

<I am not sure of the name.> He admitted.

<I am sorry. I did not understand that. Alarion, in what city, town, or other municipality were you born?>

<Mm.> Alarion grunted as he pointed to his best estimate. <The city of Redburn.>

<Thank you. Alarion, please provide your date of birth.>

This time, he groaned in earnest. If not for the system, he'd have no earthly idea. <14th Telana, 461 A.T.S.>

<I am sorry. I did not understand that. Alarion, please provide your date of birth.> Alarion repeated his answer, and the voice reiterated its apology and question. On the third failed attempt, something changed. <I am sorry. It appears we are unable to verify your date of birth at this time, possibly due to an issue with dating systems or contextual drift. Please state your age.>

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

<Fifteen.>

<Thank you. Alarion, please provide your father's full name.>

On and on it went, question after question. After his father's name and date of birth came his mother's and hers. Then his siblings. The voice asked the current date and failed to comprehend his answer. Then it looped back to his home, trying to find a more specific address, to no avail. It asked about his childhood neighbors, his grandparents, and finally, some sort of 'Global Identification Number' before it finally gave up.

<Thank you. Unfortunately, I am unable to match your identity to any existing records at this time.> Alarion tensed, his eyes looking toward the vents in the walls for the poison he suspected would soon flow. <However, this falls within expected parameters. We will now proceed with the second phase of questioning. Alarion, are you here to damage or destroy this facility?>

The sudden change of topic brought him up short, partly because he did not know the answer. He was not here to destroy it, but was the Revenant? Would Alarion have to damage it to accomplish his geas?

<No.> He answered eventually.

<No.> The voice replied after a long delay. <That answer is incomplete. You are not certain.>

<How do you know? How are you reading my mind?>

<Ala-> The voice had begun to ask another question when Alarion's question reached it. There was a delay as the mind inside reset to assess this new inquiry, then it responded. <The technical explanation is complex, but I will attempt to summarize. The walls of this holding cell are lined with resonance imaging scanners that provide a three-dimensional model of your body, particularly your brain. Coupled with high sensitivity chemical intakes, speech pattern recognition software, and iris scanners, the system detects dissembling and uncertainty with a high degree of confidence. If you feel an error has been made in its assessment, please indicate such, and we will re-ask an inquiry following a short recalibration period.>

That was certainly an answer. Alarion understood it as 'we are watching you closely and can tell when you lie', but in that way, it had served its purpose.

<Alarion, do you personally intend to damage or destroy this facility?>

<No.> He replied honestly.

<Alarion, are you here under duress?>

<Yes.> This time, the pause was so long that Alarion could not contain himself. <A revenant has told us->

<Alarion,> the voice interrupted. <Please state your purpose for entering this facility. Keep your answer as concise as possible.>

<I-> he began to reply before his mind caught up to his mouth. He paused his answer, searching for the right words and the most succinct way to put them together before finally answering. <I have been asked to disable the security. And I also want to free the Soulless outside.>

<Alarion, please clarify the meaning of the word Soulless.>

<The Steelborn?>

<Alarion, please clarify the meaning of the word Steelborn.>

<The machines outside. The sentries, the groundskeepers, all of them.>

<Understood.> The voice replied in its dull, robotic monotone. <Alarion, are you working on behalf of the Ashadi Research Institute?>

He shook his head. Then, when the voice began to repeat itself, he quickly added, <No. I do not even know what that is.>

<Alarion, please turn your attention to the projection.> The wall flickered to life again as Alarion did as instructed. <Please inform me if you recognize or are affiliated with any of these individuals.>

An image of a middle-aged bearded man appeared on the wall. The man was slight, his eyes turned to the side as though he did not realize his visage was being captured. The name Vitali appeared next to the depiction.

<No,> Alarion said. There was a delay, then the image disappeared, replaced with a younger woman in her mid-thirties whom he also did not recognize. <No.>

No, no, no. Dozens of images flashed on the wall without the slightest hint of recognition. The procession grew boring quickly, with Alarion snapping out his responses faster and faster as it became clear he did not recognize a single person.

Until he did.

<N-> Alarion began, the word strangled in his throat as spectacled eyes stared back at him from the wall. The features were wrong. Younger, less defined. More alive. The name was wrong too, the word 'Setil' glowing beside the youthful face. But there was no mistaking it.

Lamesh.

<Alarion, do you recognize this man?> The voice asked. Its tone had not changed, but Alarion could swear there was venom in it all the same.

<Someone like him,> Alarion answered.

<Alarion, do you recognize this man? Please answer Yes or No.>

He did not know how to answer. Not just because the name was wrong and the face was subtly incorrect, but because some part of him recognized the danger he was in. <No.>

<That answer is incomplete. You are not certain,> the voice pressed.

<The man I met looked similar. But his name was different.>

<Please wait.>

Alarion was uncertain if he'd ever heard more frightening words. He could not carve his way out of this room, he could not hide, he could not run. He was at the mercy of something that was not even a person. And he may have made it angry.

His hand moved to his ear. Sierra had told him that the range of the Simus was measured in hundreds of yards under ideal circumstances. He'd flown up several times that during his ascent. The chance that she could hear him was next to nothing, but he focused on the device anyway, as he spoke.

"Sierra, if you can hear this, I am in trouble. Do not follow me up. It is not safe. If I can find a way down, I will. I am sorry."

The seconds dragged on, one after another. Would he even know if the thing had poisoned the air? Alarion looked at his Status and saw no new notifications. He looked to the wall, to the floor, wondering if he'd been wrong. Perhaps he could stab a hole through. Something deep enough that he could breathe through it, if push came to toxic gas.

Fortunately, it did not come to that.

<Thank you for your patience. Your screening is now complete. You have been labelled a non-threat successor. Priority access has been granted. Please follow the indicated panels, as they will direct you to emulation. Please be aware that while main area security has been unshackled and given stand-down orders, they cannot be disabled remotely. These emulated units have been active for a minimum of 14.72 to 7,219 subjective cycles and, as a result, may behave irrationally. Please take caution in approaching such units.>

Alarion swallowed hard as a door slid open silently on one side of the small metal room. Bright light flooded in from outside, and he squinted against it to see a glowing green arrow directing him to the right. Sword in hand, Alarion stepped out into the corridor, but not before uttering two more words in Ashadi. <Thank you.>

Sure, the thing had threatened to asphyxiate him. But it costs nothing to be polite.

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